Sanitary bottle stopper



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Patented Aun. 22, T922 GRAHAIVI SANITARY BOTTLE STUPPER.

@PPLICATION FILED om s. 19

NETE@ STATES l ANDREW W. GRAHAM, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SANITARY BOTTLE STOPPER.

Madras.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Auw. 22, 1922.

Application filed December 8, 1920. Serial No. 429,237.

To all 'zo/1.0m 'if may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW W. GRAHAM, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Bottle Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bottle closures and more especially to a sanitary bottle stopper.

It is well known that the ordinary paper or press board disk used to close milk bottles and the like is open to many objections. In the first place such disks are difficult tao remove without injury to the stopper, the point of a sharp instrument such as a knife or fork being usually employed for the purpose.

One important object of the invention is to provide an improved form of such stopper which can be` removed without injury so that it may be replaced and continue to effectively perform its function.

Another objection inherent in a flat disk lies in the fact that such disks are subject t0 contact with the fingers on the side next the bottle contents and there is thus contamination of the bottlercontents if the stopper be replaced after once opening the bottle.

A second important object of the invention is to provide an improved form of bottle stopper so shaped that it may be removed and replaced with a minimum of danger from contact by the fingers or other objects with the portion coming in Contact with the contents of the bottle.

Another serious objection to the usual press board disk is that it is necessarily lacking in flexibility since it can only have the requisite strength when made vsufficiently rigid. v

A third important object of the invention is the provision of a stopper having a flexible metallic reinforcement.

iVith the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafter apparent. the invention consists in general of certain novel arrangements of details and formations of parts hereinafter fully described. illustrated in the accompanying drawings' and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and :1,--

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bottle showing one form of the improved stopper applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a transverse section through such a bottle neck and stopper.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified form of the device.

Figure 4 is a section showinga' second modification. K

Figure 5 is a plan View partly` broken away showing one form of reinforcement.

Figure 6 is a View similar to Figure 5 but showing a second form of reinforcement.

In the form shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 there is shown a container, such as a milk bottle or other simliar container, having a body 10 and provided with an internal shoulder 11 adjacent its mouth. The exterior of the mouth in this form is provided Wit-h a plain bead or lip 12. In Figure 4 the external lip, in place of a simple bead as in the first form, is formed of two parts 18 and 14 so arranged as to provide a groove 15. The closure for each form consists of a central portion 16, here shown as a flat disk like portion although it may be of any desired shape. This central disk is surrounded by a flange 17. Surrounding the fiange port-ion, whether of the type shown in Figure 2 or that shown in Figure 8, is a rim portion shaped to fit the mouth and lip of the bottle as shown at 18 and provided, when the device is used with such a bottle as that of Figure 4, with an inwardly pressed rib 19. The caps thus formed may be made of ordinary press board treated or not with paraflin without reinforcement but I preferably make each cap or stopper in three layers a, Z) and c, the outer layer a being of press board, the inner layer c being of sanitary paper which may be a thin, tough paraffin paper, and the central layer o being a metallic reinforcement such as the reticulated tinfoil shown in Figure 5 or the woven pliable wire shown in Figure 6. The rim of any stopper formed in this manner will be flexible so that the stopper may be placed on the bottle and the rim pressed or squeezed inward beneath the bottle lip. Thus the device may be readily removed, owing to the flexibility of the channel shaped peripheral portion, without injuring the sealing qualities of the stopper, and as readily replaced when desired. Moreover, as only the under side of the central portion ever is touched by the contents of the bottle, and this part is never touched by the users lingers or, if laid down or dropped, by the surface whereon it is placed or falls, there is no danger of contaminating the bottle contents from such sources if the stopper be used to reseal the bottle.

It will be noted that the forms shown in Figures 3 to 6 omit the outer layer A, the three layer type being only shown in Figure 2.

In applying this cap to bottles originally the application may be effected by suitable machinery in which case the caps may be cut and formed from a sheet of the material to be used. In this case the contour of the blanks would preferably be hexagonal so that the blanks may be arranged in rows like the cells in a honeycomb thus effecting economy of the material.

Furthermore the center of each cap forming the part 16 may be stamped or pressed, either with or without heat, in such manner as to render this part very hard and practically to parchmentize it. This not only stiffens the center but renders it impervious to moisture and expands it laterally so that the side Walls 17 are kept firmly pressed against the inside of the bottle neck and leakage of the contents through capillary attraction is prevented.

There has thus been provided a simple and eliicient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that many minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material principles thereof. It is not therefore desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described Ibut it is wished to include all such as come within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. A stopper of the class described consisting of outer and inner layers of paper like -material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of Hexible metal all of said layers having coterininous edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the reinforcement after forcible shaping to fit a bottle.

2. A stopper of the class described consisting ofl outer andinner layers of paper like material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of reticulated flexible metal all of said layers having coterminous edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the' reinforcement after forcible shaping to fit a bottle.

3. A stopper of the class described consisting of outer and inner layers of paper like material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of reticulated tinfoil all of said layers having coterminous edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the reinforcement after forcible shaping to fit a bottle.

4. A stopper of the class described formed of paper like material and provided with a metallic reinforcement, the central portion being compressed and hardened to produce a substantial parchmentization whereby flexure of the center of the stopper will be resisted after forcible insertion of said center in the mouth of a bottle.

5. A stopper of the class described consisting of outer and inner layersvof paper like material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of flexible metal all of said layers having coterminous. edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the reinforcement after forcible shaping to t a bottle, the central portion being compressed and hardened to produce a substantial parchmentization. l

6. A stopper of the class described consisting of outer and inner layers of paper like material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of reticulated flexible metal all of said layers having coterminous edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the reinforcement after forcible shaping to fit a bottle, the central portion being compressed and hardened to produce a substantial parchmentization.

7. A stopper of the class described consisting of outer and inner layers of paper like material and an intermediate reinforcing layer of reticulated tinfoil all of said layers having coterminous edges whereby the edge portions of the stopper will be retained in shape by the reinforcement after forcible shaping to it a bottle, the central portion being compressed and hardened to produce a substantial parohmentization.v

In testimony whereof I affix m si ature.

ANDREW W. Gill-A AM. 

